


In Good Hands

by Talyesin



Series: Aftermath on Finite Earths [24]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 20:19:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15493875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talyesin/pseuds/Talyesin





	In Good Hands

Earth-S  
Sivana Island

 

Captain Marvel Jr. soared through the skies high above the Bermuda Triangle, fighting the growing rage and despair in his heart. His steely blue eyes scanned the ocean far below for any sign, any clue of the whereabouts of Sivana Island, the world’s wickedest scientist’s hidden oceanic lair. Freddy knew the mad doctor had a predilection for the great Caribbean mystery, so his search had focused there, even though he and Bill had searched the area already, weeks before when Mary had first been kidnapped. Still, it never hurt to look twice, and Freddy was running out of options.

A crack of thunder nearby had Freddy, already tense from searching for his pregnant wife, immediately turn and prepare for an attack, but all that presented itself was a young man, dressed entirely in white, sitting cross-legged on a cloud.

“Oh, it’s you,” Freddy said, smiling.

“Is that any way to greet your brother?” the youth grinned back, riding the cloud over to where Freddy hovered mid-air.

“How are things, Kit?” Freddy asked.

“Oh, you know, pretty dead,” Christopher ‘Kit’ Freeman, also known as Kid Eternity, joked.

“You never get tired of that joke, do you?”

“Hey, I’ve been dead for fifty years, I have to get my laughs how I can.” Freddy’s long-dead long-lost brother shrugged. “Anyhow, my stand-up routine’s not why I’m here.”

“I’m glad you are here, whatever the reason. Mary missing, Cap gone… I mean, the Squadron of Justice is doing what they can, but… If anything happens to Mary… I… I don’t know what…”

Kid Eternity put a hand near Captain Marvel Jr.’s shoulder – as an intangible, mostly invisible ghost, he could only affect the material world through the people he called into being with his powers – and said, “Don’t worry, Fred. We’ll find her.”

“Sure.”

“Where’s he gone, anyway?”

“Who, Captain Marvel?”

“You know, I realize it’s been years since Shazam fixed that, but I still flinch whenever you say Captain Marvel.”

“It took me a while to get used to it, too. He’s gone in search of some mystical help, because we tried to summon the wizard and we think something’s blocking him from appearing.”

“Gone where?”

“One of the other Earths, he said. Leaving me in charge of the search.”

“And of the problems – I saw the fight against Mr. Atom.”

“Yeah, Tawky says I let out some of my frustrations against him.”

“I’ll say – he was in nineteen pieces by the time you were finished with him.”

“Say, Kit – you couldn’t summon up Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple, could you? To help us figure this out?”

“I don’t think they’ll be able to help, Fred. But I think I know who might.”

“Who?”

Kid Eternity gave his brother a knowing look by way of reply. It didn’t take Captain Marvel Jr. the wisdom of Solomon to figure out who his brother was referring to.

“Come on, Kit, be serious.”

“I am serious. He’ll know where she is.”

“He will, or that creepy demonic banjo of his?”

“Does it matter?”

“I hate turning to him for help, Kit. We should be able to figure this out on our own. And last time, he wanted five pounds of diamonds. I hate the idea that we’re funding a criminal.”

“He’s not a criminal any more, Fred. At least, not technically. He just sells information to the highest bidder. Any information.”

“Fine…” Freddy answered sulkily. 

“Do you know where he is?”

“New Orleans.”

“Then let’s go!”

As the pair flew off, far below them, a telescope slowly materialized. The telescope was attached to a sinister-looking complex, set atop a dismal, barren, rocky island. At the base of the telescope, a figure hunched crookedly over the eyepiece.

“Heh heh heh,” the bald figure’s ominous voice chortled evilly to no one in particular. “Foolish boy! Right under your nose! Your precious wife and unborn child, and me, Sivana, your greatest nemesis! And the Big Red Cheese, departed for another Earth? Perfect! Heh heh heh heh heh!”

A chime from the other side of his lab made Sivana turn – an incoming communication from his collaborator made him scurry over to the computer monitor which dominated one wall, arthritically clawed fingers painfully typing in the key commands to activate the communicator.

The woman’s silhouette appeared onscreen, the only discernable features her short-cropped hair and glowing red eyes. Sivana could not stop himself from feeling nervous under her gaze.

“Well, Sivana?” the woman asked without preamble, her voice harsh and cruel.

“She’s almost ready,” Sivana answered. “Another few weeks and she’ll be fully to term. I’ll induce if I have to in order to meet your schedule, but it would be best to allow the gestation to terminate naturally.”

“Our schedule is very tight, Sivana.”

“Do you imagine I don’t know that?” Sivana snapped testily. The woman simply glared at him, ruby anger conveying a promise of retribution words would have failed to similarly convey. Sivana swallowed hard, the hard egg of his Adam’s apple bobbing on his thin neck. “I can insure the safe delivery of the child. I promise you that.”

“You’ve already promised me that.”

“Also, that Big Red Cheese has left this Earth – if I may be so bold, now would be the perfect time to strike!” Sivana’s impatience and frustration boiled over, spittle flying through his buckteeth. “Let me have Captain Nazi and Black Adam back, and perhaps one or two others from one of the other Earths, and I will bring this Earth to its knees! Only Junior Marvel and his pathetic Lieutenants Marvel are left – the Squadron of Justice are weaklings! Strike now, and I will rule this planet in your name!”

“That’s not the plan, Sivana. One Earth has fallen to our forces, another lies vulnerable. Yours will be next once we’ve secured those two. Not before. Your assignment does not involve altering our strategy – just deliver the child to me, alive and well.”

“But-“

“Thaddeus, don’t make me come to your Earth to explain this plan in person. I don’t have time for your petty impatience. We will do this according to plan – a plan you were instrumental in developing, need I remind you - and we will all have our wildest dreams made reality. The so-called super-heroes will be crushed, and five Earths will be ours for the taking.”

With difficulty, Sivana swallowed his ambition. “Yes. Yes, of course. According to the plan.” Behind thick lenses, Sivana’s eyes narrowed with cruel glee. “Once the child is born, what plans did you have for the mother?”

“Her life is of no consequence. The only thing that matters is the child. Do with her as you will.”

Sivana rubbed his claw-like hands together. “Heh heh heh…”


End file.
